Possessed
by JantoJones
Summary: Ianto and Gwen are possessed. (Mild Janto)


The phone started ringing as Gwen entered the hub. She was about to rush to answer it when Ianto seemingly materialised from nowhere and picked it up. By the time she'd hung her coat up and stored her bag away, Ianto had finished the call and was dialling Jack's number. Gwen hovered nearby, trying to look as though she wasn't listening in. Ianto smiled his friendly smile and switched to speakerphone, so she could hear both sides of the conversation.

'Jack, we've just had a call from the police about strange activity in a residential area.'

There was a slight pause, in which they could hear the sounds of running, before Jack answered.

'Erm…we're still having Weevil trouble; the bastard is giving us the run-around. Can you and Gwen investigate and give me your report later?'

'Okay Jack, we'll get right on it.'

Ianto severed the connection and smiled again at Gwen. 'I guess we've got ourselves a case.'

'I'll put my coat back on again.'

On a housing estate on the edge of Cardiff, the police had evacuated and cordoned off an area with a half-mile radius. The area centred on an ordinary house on an ordinary street. There had been reports of weird noises and laser type lights emanating from the house. The police had been highly sceptical. However, when they came to investigate themselves, they too witnessed a blue laser streak shoot through an upstairs window. The noises they heard were a strange mix of high-pitched wailings and low rumblings.

'So their superiors decided it was more our department,' Ianto told Gwen.

They briefly stopped at the police cordon to show their credentials and garner more information. None was forthcoming; the police officers having decided their time was better occupied keeping the general public out. They climbed out of Gwen's car in front of the house and tentatively made their way up the path. Gwen drew her gun out.

'How are we doing this?' she asked.

Ianto shrugged slightly. 'You take the front and I'll go round the back? We'll go in on the count of three.'

Ianto readied his gun, opened communications with Gwen, and then walked around to the back door.

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When Jack, Toshiko and Owen got back to the hub, Ianto and Gwen had yet to return. Owen had picked up a few minor cuts during the Weevil hunt, so he and Tosh went to the autopsy room to treat them. Jack went straight through to his office to begin his report on the hunt. It had been unsuccessful, leaving Jack in a less than great mood. No one was to blame. It had simply been a particularly slippery Weevil. It seemed to be one of the more intelligent ones and had managed to completely evade them. A short while later, Gwen and Ianto came back. Jack noted instantly that they both looked very pale. Each had dark circles under their eyes and looked as though they would collapse at any minute.

'Are you two all right?' he asked, his voice loaded with concern.

'Yes,' Gwen and Ianto replied in unison. Their voices were strangely flat.

'How did the investigation go?'

'Nothing to report.' Again, it was said in unison.

Jack's suspicion gene kicked in immediately. Clearly, there was something very wrong with them. The Captain tried to act as normal as possible.

'Okay, write up a report anyway, then go and see Owen. You both look slightly unwell.'

'There is no need for either.'

They were still speaking together. It was creepy and was beginning to make Jack's mood worse than it already was.

'Even so, as commander, I'm ordering both.'

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Owen was not best pleased; he had been hoping to slope off early. There was a particularly lovely lady he was meeting tonight. She had legs up to her ears and a very nice…personality. Instead, he had to diagnose Ianto and Gwen's sudden, weird symptoms. Quite frankly, they were freaking him out. They were both just standing there, barely moving and completely silent. Owen readied a couple of syringes in order to take blood samples.

'Roll your sleeve up, Ianto.'

The Welshman didn't move. After asking twice more without result, Owen grabbed Ianto's arm, in a less than caring fashion, and pushed his sleeve up. Owen fully accepted that he had a crap bedside manner. The one thing he'd hated about being a doctor was the bloody patients. Before he had a chance to insert the syringe, Ianto's right fist came up and smashed into Owen's face. The young doctor staggered backwards but managed to regain his composure.

'You fucking twat.' he yelled, before throwing a punch of his own.

It never connected. Ianto got a second punch in first, which sent Owen crashing over the autopsy table and into the wall. He landed heavily and lay still and silent. Gwen and Ianto left the autopsy room and the insensible Owen.

They went down to the secure archives, several floors beneath the hub. Only two people had access to the archives, Jack and Ianto. The others never really had a reason to be down here. Despite the lack of human traffic, Ianto kept the place spotless. It was all a matter of pride. Ianto and Gwen knew exactly what they were looking for, so went straight to a box marked 'Unknown Object AT39S'. The box was about the same size as a shoebox. Inside, held securely in place with protective foam, was a small grey cylinder. It had seven imbedded controls along the length of it. Ianto placed the device in his jacket pocket before closing and replacing the box.

Gwen and Ianto were halfway across the hub when a piercing klaxon began to sound. The cogwheel door and cage gates slammed shut swiftly following the noise. The hub was going into lock-down. Jack and Tosh appeared from the direction of the cells. Owen came out of the autopsy room, holding the wall for support. Blood covered his face and the front of his shirt. It was evident to everyone that his nose was broken. The skin around his eyes was also beginning to bruise.

'That fucking bastard attacked me.' He pointed to Ianto. 'I knew there was a reason that I didn't like him.'

His voice was extremely nasal, making it difficult for the others to understand him. Jack had drawn his pistol and was pointing it in the general direction of Gwen and Ianto. He didn't want to aim in at either of them specifically, so settled for alternating between them. It was more of a warning gesture than anything else. If he did have to shoot one of them, it would be a disabling shot rather that a kill shot.

'I don't think they are themselves. Lock-down may have been an over-reaction though, Owen.'

Especially since Ianto knows how to reverse it, he thought. Jack indicated to Tosh to get her weapon. She had left it on her workstation when they had returned from the failed Weevil hunt.

'Help me get these two to the cells,' Jack told her. 'Then, I want you to get Owen to the hospital. His face needs medical attention.'

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Fifteen minutes later, with Tosh and Owen gone, Jack was sitting on a stool opposite the cells. Gwen and Ianto had been placed in cells at either end of the vault. They seemed to be experiencing a small amount of pain. Jack sat with his back against the opposite wall in order to see both of them clearly. They were each standing in the centre of their cells facing outwards. Jack regarded them in silence for a while. He was in no doubt his team members had been compromised somehow. You didn't have to be a brain surgeon to know it had something to do with the house they had visited earlier.

'What are you?' he asked eventually.

When the reply came, it was in the same unified monotone as before.

'Gwen Cooper and Ianto Jones.'

'The bodies may belong to them, but you are not them.' Jack got up and stood a hairs breadth from the door of Gwen's cell.

'Who are you and is Gwen still in there?'

'They are sleeping.'

Even though the question had been aimed at Gwen, the answer came from both of them. It was becoming unnerving.

'Leave them!' Jack growled, a snarl twisting his mouth.

'We need the corporeal form. Ours was destroyed.'

The Captain was becoming increasingly exasperated. 'WHO ARE YOU? If I have to ask again, I WILL shoot you.'

'You would not harm your colleagues.'

'Oh, yes I would,' Jack almost whispered. To reiterate his point, he drew his pistol again.

'We are Marlesh from Marletia.'

Jack nodded in recognition of the names of the species and planet.

The Captain sat back down and listened to the story. Having assumed that he was dealing with two aliens, Jack was surprised to learn it was only one. That explained why they always spoke together. It was the constant use of the word 'we' which was confusing matters. The Marlesh was a scientist who had been studying the rift from its planet. There had been an accident and it was pulled through to earth. Its physical body had been invaded by human viruses and infections, and had eventually died. The Marlesh species had the ability to abandon the body before death for a short time. They had to find a new host quickly though. After a couple of failed attempts, the alien had finally realised that one human couldn't hold it and had to resort to splitting in two. This was perfectly acceptable as long as the two bodies were in close proximity. It had inhabited a young couple and occupied their house. It was from this house that the reports of weird activity had come. The Marlesh had been trying to construct a communications device to send a signal back through the rift. When Gwen and Ianto had arrived at the house, the alien had immediately switched to their bodies to prevent attack. From their minds, it had discovered Torchwood. From Ianto's mind it found that Torchwood was holding a piece of equipment it could use. What's more, this body had full access to the equipment.

'If I help you, will Gwen and Ianto be okay?' Jack was quite willing to aid the alien in leaving Earth if it meant regaining his team members. He felt a pang of guilt when he realised that he was slightly more concerned for Ianto than Gwen. Of course, Gwen was important to him, but not in the same way.

'They will survive,' replied the Marlesh.

'That's not the question I asked.'

'They will survive'

'Okay, okay,' Jack held his hands up in concession. 'This device, what is it?'

He'd searched them for weapons before putting them in the cells, and had found the cylinder in Ianto's pocket. Jack had relieved him of it and had set it on the floor beside his stool. He stooped to pick it up and examined it.  
'It's part of the communications system for a Marletian Super-Cruiser,' he was told. 'We can connect it to what we have already built.'

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Leaving Gwen and Ianto in the cells, Jack went back to his office to wait for Owen and Tosh, and to think things through. Of course, he would help the Marlesh, but there was still this niggling feeling that he shouldn't because of what they were doing to his colleagues. Forget feelings, he told himself. The priority was to get Gwen and Ianto back. To do this, they had to get the Marlesh out. To get it out, they had to help it home. It was as simple as that. Jack sat for forty-five minutes going over and over it, unnecessarily. It wasn't until Tosh and Owen returned when he stopped mulling it over.

Owen's nose was heavily bandaged and the eye area was much darker than before. Other than that he seemed fairly chipper. It was probably the result of plenty of pain medication. Jack explained the situation to them.

'Can't we just shoot Ianto?' asked Owen, in all seriousness.

Jack smiled humourlessly. 'No we can't, for two reasons. One, you don't shoot colleagues because you feel like it. Two, the Marlesh would simply jump to one of us.'

It amused him slightly to see Owen's look of disappointment. He would never get those two to get on. They worked well as a team when it was needed, so Jack wasn't overly worried that they weren't the best of friends.

Within half an hour, everyone was packed into the SUV. Jack took the driver's seat and Tosh the front passenger seat, leaving a whinging Owen to sit with the possessed Gwen and Ianto. It didn't take long to travel through the pre-dawn traffic and they arrived at the house in barely any time at all. The house was still cordoned off with police tape but the evacuated area had been reopened. Curtains twitched along the street as the shiny black Torchwood vehicle screeched to a halt. Tosh briefly wondered if Jack was capable of driving sedately. The Captain stalked into the house with his pistol at the ready. It was more out of habit than defence. He conducted a lightning quick search of the ground floor before making his way upstairs. The rest of the team followed. After another quick search, Jack found two bodies in the front bedroom. Owen checked their pulses and found them to still be alive. They were quite obviously the young couple the Marlesh had previously possessed. The fact they were still alive was of enormous comfort to Jack.

Tosh, Owen and Jack watched on in silence while the possessed Ianto and Gwen got on with constructing the communicator. After about twenty minutes Tosh broke the silence.

'Jack, can I have a word?'

She nodded to the doorway, letting him know that it was private. The two of them went out onto the landing.

'I was wondering, Jack, how the alien is going to get back through the rift without a body. Won't it need to take Gwen and Ianto with it?'

Realisation dawned on Jack. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he silently thought to himself. It hadn't even occurred to him.

'I'm going to have to shoot them,' he murmured, resignedly.

Switching on his Bluetooth, he called Owen in the next room. He didn't want the Marlesh hearing him.

'Owen, don't say anything. As soon as I end this call I want you to come out here. I am going to shoot Gwen and you are going to shoot Ianto. I'll immediately deploy the mobile cell as the alien leaves them. Come out now.'

Owen was able to leave the room unnoticed. The Marlesh was too preoccupied. The grin on his face was massive and must have been causing pain to the injured areas. He pulled his gun out.

'Merry Christmas me,' he said, smiling even more.

'Shoot him in the leg or the shoulder Owen. Don't kill him.'

It was over in seconds. As soon as they re-entered the room, Jack and Owen both fired. Jack got Gwen in the thigh while Owen went for Ianto's shoulder. It was an injury that would hurt more later. Owen knew that it wasn't actually Ianto who had broken his nose, but he still wanted retribution. As soon as they bullets hit home, the Marlesh was forced out. Jack deployed the mobile cell, trapping it inside. The energy mass of the alien swirled about inside the cell, searching for an escape. The Marlesh died the same way as the sex-crazed gaseous alien had done on Gwen's first assignment. As soon as it was over, Tosh was on the phone requesting ambulances. Jack was administering first aid to Gwen while Owen treated Ianto's wound. They were both unconscious, just like the young couple. The ambulances arrived in surprisingly quick time. Owen and Tosh went with the ambulances while Jack stayed behind to clear away anything alien. This would normally be Ianto's job. Jack was uneasy about the death of the Marlesh. It was only trying to get home, but at the same time it was causing harm to others. Still, it was over now and worrying about it all would be academic.

Jack arrived at the hospital two hours later, to find that Owen had commandeered a room in the name of Torchwood. It contained four beds and a desk. Ianto, Gwen and the young couple occupied the beds. Tosh was sitting between Gwen and Ianto, who were already awake. Ianto's shoulder was bandaged and in a sling. Gwen's injury was hidden beneath the sheets. Despite the injuries, they both looked healthier than they had done all night.

'I'm keeping those two sedated,' Owen pointed at the couple. 'It will be easier in the long run.'

Jack smiled at Gwen and Ianto. 'Do you remember anything?' he asked.

They both shook their heads. The last thing either of them could recall was opening the doors of the house.

'Who shot us?' asked Ianto. 'Owen won't say.'

Jack glanced at Owen, who was suddenly studying his clipboard like it held the answer to the existence of God.

'I did,' Jack told him. 'It was necessary, sorry.'

'Okay, everybody out,' Owen ordered suddenly. 'This lot all need res, and you're not helping.'

'Okay, come on Tosh,' Jack waggled his finger at her. 'Let's go and write this all up.'

Tosh kissed Ianto and Gwen on the forehead before leaving. Jack went one better and kissed them on the lips.

'See you later,' he added, before closing the door behind him.

End


End file.
